Violet Glasses
by jokergirl2001
Summary: She woke up in another body. A body that by all rights shouldn't exist. The body of Minako Uzumaki, Naruto's twin sister. Will her new life be a nightmare or a dream come true? Then again, happy endings are hard to come by. SI/OC.
1. left to an empty role

Five minutes after she woke up, Valerie realized three things.

One, she was no longer in her own bed.

Two, she wasn't in America, or even her own universe anymore.

Three, Naruto Uzumaki was cuddling with her.

Yes, _the_ Naruto Uzumaki, Child of Prophecy, holder of the Nine Tailed Fox, son of Minato Namikaze the Fourth Hokage and Kushina Uzumaki, one of the last Uzumaki, future student of Kakashi Hatake, future student of one of the Sannin, and whatever tittle he also owned. _That_ Naruto was hugging her while snoring.

She did what any sane human would do in this situation of hers, she pinched herself, hard.

"Ouch..!"

Her eyes widened in horror at the high pitched sound that escaped.

She held her hands up to inspect them, and realized two more things.

She was no longer in her own body, rather the body of a child. Judging by Naruto's appearance, she'd say the body she's in was at least three years old.

Oh, and also if this was really happening she'd have to go through puberty all over again.

So she did what any sane person would do in her situation. She closed her eyes and went back to sleep.

When she went to sleep she woke up in a foreign body, so by that logic she should wake up back in her body when she wakes up, right?

 _'Well, here's to hoping.'_

And if her plan didn't work, well she'll leave everything up to future-her.

A yawn escaped her before she fell asleep.

She wasn't sure for how long she slept, but when she woke up it was morning.

There was no one next to her.

She smiled in relief, her plan actually worked.

"Mina, morning!"

 _'Or maybe not.'_ She thought as she sat up to see mini-Naruto grinning at her.

Oh, how she hated her past self right now.

"Mina?" Naruto worriedly asked.

 _'Well better play along, I guess.'_

"Naru, morning."

Sure enough she was speaking Japanese. Of course whichever deity placed her in the bizarre situation she was in would help her with the language barrier. How cliché.

"Ya okay sis? Ya seem out of it, dattebayo."

"I'm fine?"

Naruto casted her a suspicious look, maybe his sister really was sick. She was acting off after all.

Ana, or apparently Mina, on the other hand was cursing whichever deity that decided to screw her over.

Of course she'd wake up in the body of someone who shouldn't even exist. Of course it would just happen to be Naruto's sister. And she was probably his twin, wasn't she?

Just her rotten luck!

Could her situation get any worse?

Before she could realize that she jynxed herself, her stomach growled.

"Food?" Naruto asked.

Despite the flush on her cheeks, Mina nodded.

Grinning in amusement Naruto led her sister to the dining room downstairs.

Belatedly Mina realized that they were in an orphanage.

 _'Must have not been kicked out yet.'_

Mina expected that once she and Naruto entered the dining room, everyone would start glaring at them, calling them names, being bullies, and things like that.

What she did not expect was to be completely ignored. No one even glanced at her nor Naruto.

Somehow she preferred it if they were actually bullying her. At least then she wouldn't feel so invisible.

"Mina?"

Mina glanced at Naruto who was standing in line to get food. Shaking her head she walked over to him.

So what if the other kids ignored her?They were just canon fodder.

Naruto was the main character. And he paid attention to her.

Seeing Naruto look so worried, she managed to give Naruto a genuine smile. It wasn't his fault that she was in this crappy situation. And also, she was kinda feeling bad for stealing Mina's body.

.o0o.o0o.

Mina leaned against a tree, lazily watching over Naruto as he ran around chasing a lizard.

She's been in a supposedly fictional world for almost four hours already, and she was so damned tired.

Aside from that, she figured out something else by eavesdropping.

People think that Naruto's the jinchuriki, not her. Frankly she didn't know if this was true or not, either of them could be the jinchuriki really, and if Minato had split Kurama in Yin and Yang, well then both of them could be the jinchuriki.

The reason why they ignored her too was because the original Mina wouldn't abandon her dear brother even if the world depended on it. Admirable really.

She saw the other kids heading inside, screaming about lunch.

Stretching her limbs lazily, she stood up, and cupped her hands near her mouth.

"It's time to go inside Naru!" She yelled cringing slightly at her voice.

Yeah, she wouldn't be getting used to how high pitched her voice sounded, not for quite a bit.

Perking up Naruto ran towards the door. "Last one there's a rotten egg!"

Sputtering, Mina ran after him. "Not fair!" She whined pathetically.

Of course she was the rotten egg considering Naruto cheated.

She crossed her arms, a childish pout on her features. Acting like a kid was easy enough for her.

"Mina?"

"Let's just go inside." Mina grumbled reaching to open the door.

"Open it already." Naruto urged.

"I'm trying!" Mina growled twisting the knob. The door didn't even budge.

After a full minute of struggling with the door, Mina gave up with a huff.

"What's going on?" Naruto asked, fear laced in his features.

Mina crossed her arms, and scowled at the door. "Apparently, we've been kicked out." _In a very cruel way._

"What?!" Naruto yelled in shock.

Mina sighed, why did she have to get kicked out on her first day as Mina? Just her rotten luck.

"Let us in!" Naruto yelled banging on the door.

Mina watched, mildly impressed by Naruto's ability to shout so loud, and then it got boring after five minutes.

"Naru."

Naruto didn't stop.

"Naruto, enough!" Mina raised her voice slightly.

Naruto paused, not because Mina raised her voice, but at the usage of his name.

He looked at Mina who seemed to be contemplating something.

"Let's just go." She said.

He frowned. "Go where?"

"Somewhere. Just trust me, okay?"

Naruto immediately relented. If there was anyone he trusted more than himself, it would be Mina.

Taking Naruto's small hands in her even smaller hand Mina decided to trust her rotten luck.

Just kidding.

She just decided to walk blindly towards the Hokage monument deciding to get the Third's help.

.o0o.o0o.

After navigating through the impossible streets and corners of Konoha,- _Damn Kishimoto for not giving out enough information on Konoha's layout_ -she reached the Hokage's building, or whatever the place was called.

"Mina, are you sure you know where you're going?"

"Naru?"

"Yeah?"

"Shut up." Mina sweetly smiled, her blonde hair flying wildly in the background.

Naruto nodded, for the first time in his life fearing his sister.

Mina walked towards the front desk while dragging Naruto.

"Hi." Mina greeted the lady at the desk.

"Yes?"

To her credit, the lady was extremely proffesional. If it wasn't for how she was slightly tense, Mina would have said that she and Naruto didn't affect her.

"We'd like to speak to the Hokage."

Naruto gaped at his sister. _'Are you nuts?!'_

The desk lady however raised an eyebrow. "What makes you think such a busy man would have time for two brats?"

"Why wouldn't he?" Mina shot back, her voice sounding more childish in contrast to how she had acted earlier.

"Wait here, I'll see if he can spare a minute."

"Tell him the Uzumaki twins are here to see him." Mina grinned.

The desk lady finally relaxed, an amused smile on her feature. She nodded at Mina before walking away.

Mina felt like she had won a million dollars. She actually made the desk lady smile! That never happened in the fanfic stories she used to read.

"Are you nuts?!" Naruto yelled shaking her shoulders.

Blinking in surprise, Mina raised her hand to fix the glasses on the bridge of her nose, belatedly realizing she wasn't wearing any.

"I'm Mina."

"You're nuts!"

"No, I'm _Mina_." Mina stressed out.

.o0o.o0o.

Mina smiled in amusement as Naruto hid behind her.

To think that Naruto was actually scared of the Third Hokage, the man he would one day adore, was funny to her.

She was grateful for Naruto's fear, because otherwise she would have been a nervous wreck herself, as it stood she was less of a nervous wreck right now. She was nervous, but not so much considering she had to be brave for Naruto.

"Good afternoon Hokage-sama." She softly said, finally looking up to meet the Hokage's gaze.

From behind his desk Hiruzen Sarutobi smiled kindly at her. "Minako Uzumaki, what brings you here?" He asked.

 _'Minako?'_

Blinking, Mina, apparently Minako, decided to focus on the task at hand.

"Naruto and I are in need of a place to stay."

"If I recall correctly, you two are from the orphanage."

"We were kicked out." Mina cursed herself for sounding too casual about it.

A normal kid would be more panicked or sad after all.

"Do you have any idea why?"

Minako shrugged. "Beats me." She lied.

She wasn't really scared about lying, everyone lies. Besides she was counting on the fact that her ressemblance to Minato would soften the old man up.

"T-they hated me, that's why.." Naruto quietly added, slightly gripping at Minako's shirt.

Minako slipped her hand on Naruto's, and gave it a comforting squeeze.

"So, as you can see Hokage-sama, we're now homeless because people hate my brother for no reason." Minako couldn't keep the deadpan out of her voice, no matter how hard she tried.

She was tired after all. She just wanted a bed and a nice sleep.

After a few more simple questions, Minako and Naruto were off on their merry way towards their new appartment, of course they were escorted by a ninja Minako deemed generic.

.o0o.o0o.

Minako looked on in amusement as Naruto darted around their new apartment like the curious little boy he was.

From what she's seen so far today, the original Minako was Naruto's twin sister, though she wasn't sure who was older, and both looked alike. The only difference was that Naruto had inherited Minato's eye color, while Minako had inherit Kushina's eye color.

Minako wouldn't lie, she had a great time with Naruto today, but...

 _'I want to go back home.'_ She thought with a sense of longing.

Was that even possible?

The alternative was too tiresome for her to think about.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

Minako blinked at Naruto's worried look. "Huh?"

"You seem sad." Naruto frowned.

"I'm not," She ignored Naruto's skeptic look, "Just sleepy." And to prove her point she yawned.

The whole "waking up in a body that didn't even exist" dilema was too annoying to think about at the moment, so Minako decided to leave it up to the her of tomorrow.

.o0o.o0o.

"Mina, wake up! Let's go play!"

Minako grumbled, but didn't do anything else. It was too early for her to go out and play. "Go to sleep Naru." She sighed.

Apparently Naruto didn't get the fact that Minako didn't want to go out and play, because he removed the sheets from their bed.

Minako frowned, but instead of giving in she merely curled into herself.

"Mina, come on!" Naruto whined.

"Why don't you go yourself?" Minako asked still refusing to get up.

Naruto didn't respond.

Feeling worried, Minako sat up to see Naruto looking down, a hurt look etched onto his features.

 _'Shit.'_ She immediately realized her mistake. _'Minako's the only one who would socialize with Naruto.'_

Feeling resigned, and guilty, she sighed in defeat. "Let's go out then."

Naruto perked up. "Yes!" He cheered.

 _'Well, he got over that quickly.'_ Minako sarcastically thought.

At least she wouldn't spend the day brooding about her situation, so that was a bonus, right?

She changed into a simple blue shirt, and beige shorts. She didn't bother to comb her hair, which was as short as Naruto's.

She scowled at Naruto's smug grin. If only she could punch it off of him.

"Sooner we leave, the sooner we get back." She muttered to herself raising her left hand to fix the glasses which she wasn't wearing.

'I'll have to get some new glasses.' She thought to herself while Naruto rambled on about childish stuff.

"Mina, wanna be a ninja too? We can do it together!" Naruto grinned at her.

Minako froze.

She hadn't given her situation any real thought. She definitely hasn't even thought about the whole becoming a ninja business.

"Mina?"

'Ninja? Me?'

Minako took in a deep breath.

"I don't know." She lamely answered Naruto.

He frowned at her before whining about how she just had to join the academy with him in two years.

Frankly, she would prefer going to civilian school. There had to be one, right?

"Ninjas are so cool!" Naruto kept insisting, trying to persuade her.

Minako shrugged. "I don't want to be cool."

Naruto looked horrified at the thought of having an uncool sister. "But ya have to be!"

"Why?"

"You're my sis, that's why."

Minako felt resigned to the comforting way Naruto's words felt, truly Naruto could tell her to kill someone right now and she would probably try to do it.

"I'll think about it." She promised him, sounding more tired than excited.

Naruto cheered before dragging her by the wrist to the playground.

Despite that she allowed Naruto to drag her.

 _'I wonder which one of us is older._ ' Minako mused to herself, _'Doesn't matter, I'm still mentally older than him.'_

She wasn't accepting her situation, she doubts she would ever accept it, but she could adjust, couldn't she?

After all it seemed like it would take her a long time to figure out how to get back to where she belongs.

 _(She ignored the part of her that wondered if she would still want to go back if she found a way to in the future.)_

.o0o.o0o.

Minako's left eye twitched as the adults took away their children.

"Why's everyone leaving?" Naruto asked, looking like a hurt puppy.

 _'It's because they're stupid Naru...'_

Minako pinched his cheek, "'Cause we're too cool for 'em!" She grinned at him. She hated seeing him sad for some reason, maybe he really was starting to grow on her.

"Really?"

"Really." Minako lied with a smile.

She didn't feel the least bit guilty for it. After all she's been lying to Naruto ever since she's gotten into the Leaf. She even lied to the Hokage.

The fact that she hasn't been caught yet only made lying feel more natural to her.

She yawned as Naruto dragged her to the swings.

"I could push you." She offered seeing that Naruto's legs didn't fully reach down.

Naruto smiled at her.

She smiled back. His smile was nice, warm, and comforting for her.

"Ready," She started placing her hands on Naruto's back, she had to go on her toes to do it, "Set.." She angled her feet correctly, to make sure she doesn't lose her balance. "Go!" She exclaimed pushing Naruto with all her strength.

Naruto cheered, and after a while Minako stopped pushing him, deciding to go sit in the shade of a nearby tree.

 _'What am I supposed to do now?'_

She knew there were probably no books explaining her situation, and that the only thing in this world that could help her would be fuinjutsu. The Flying Thunder God technique had something to do with dimension jumping, right? Maybe it might help her.

 _'So I'm supposed to put my hopes on something as abstract as fuinjutsu.'_ She didn't miss the irony of the situation.

Pulling her knees to her chest she yawned, she was really tired, the stress of her situation getting to her again despite how casual she was acting about it.

 _'Why was Minako even born?'_ She wondered.

Minako Uzumaki had no purpose. None at all. Naruto was the child of prophecy, the reincarnation of the Sage of the Six Path's son, and the hero of his story. Compared to that, Minako had no role to play.

Honestly, Valerie (because that's her real name) felt like she was shoved on stage without any script to read from, forced to improvise on the spot. She's been doing good so far all things considered.

But she wanted to go back home. Was that too much to ask?

She closed her eyes, not wanting to think about her hopeless situation anymore than she had to. Overthinking would make her worry, worrying would make her panic, panicking would lead to emotional outbursts such as crying, which she wasn't going to indulge herself in.

Sleeping on the other hand led to dreaming, and dreaming led to escaping from her current reality. She needed that escape, so sleeping was the best option.

Her eyes focused on the blue sky above, the sky that mocked her with its similarity to her own sky back home, and before she knew it she was shifting in and out of consciousness.

"Minako-chan, you can't just fall asleep wherever you want."

Minako sleepily blinked, the sky was being obscured by an old man wearing fancy robes. _'The Hokage.'_ Her mind helpfully supplied.

"Why not?" She yawned stretching her arms out, she sighed at the satisfying pop.

"It is dangerous." Hiruzen patiently said.

"Oh, okay." Minako stood up and dusted her clothes. She glanced at the swing to see Naruto still playing, kind of stunned by Naruto's stamina. "So, what are you doing here Hokage-sama?" She asked turning back to Hiruzen.

Hiruzen gave her a kind smile. "I visited you and Naruto today, only to find that you two weren't home. On my way back to my office I saw Naruto playing."

Minako nodded, doubting that the old man was telling the whole truth. "Why would you visit us? Don't you have a village to run or something?" She bluntly asked, deciding not to be subtle. Besides kids weren't supposed to be subtle, so it wasn't out of character.

"Even a Kage needs his lunchbreak."

On cue Minako's stomach growled. "It seems an Uzumaki does too." Minako muttered, annoyed at her stomach for being such a baby.

"Care to join me for lunch?"

"Naruto can come, right?"

"That was the intention."

Nodding, Minako ran towards Naruto.

Hiruzen looked at Minako's form, he knew that Minako was not a normal child. From what he's heard, she's always been quiet, but there was just something off about the child. The way Minako looked at him was odd, as if she knew things about him that even he himself didn't know. It almost made her look older.

.o0o.o0o. 


	2. the books are fine

Minako glanced behind her to see Naruto sleeping soundly. Not surprising considering it was only four in the morning, but it bought her enough time to get some quality alone time. She ignored the small part of her that warned her that Naruto would react badly when he finds her missing, it wasn't her problem. She coddled him for like a week already. Besides, Naruto needed to learn not to depend too much on her, otherwise he'd never become the Naruto she knew.

She closed the door to their apartment quietly.

They had no neighbors so she didn't worry about getting caught or anything. As for a kid wandering Konohagakure alone, well she was sure no one would bat an eye once they saw it was her and that maybe there were Anbu following her. It would be stupid if Hiruzen left her and Naruto unprotected after all.

She breathed in a breath of fresh air once she stepped out on the streets of Konohagakure.

"Today..." She trailed off with a frown as a thought suddenly hit her.

Could she still speak English?

"One." She gritted her teeth together as the Japanese 'Ichi' escaped her mouth instead of English.

" _One_." A satisfied smile escaped her. So she hadn't lost her ability to speak English and despite not knowing whether or not it would help her one day, she was glad she could.

The language connected her to her real home after all. Her ability to speak English represented her _hope_. Something she wouldn't give up on without a fight, because she owed it to her family and friends.

She aimlessly wandered around Konohagakure as she let her thoughts consume her.

Whoever was responsible for her currently snagging the body of Minako Uzumaki obviously had plans for her. Obviously, she had to figure them out herself, otherwise she wouldn't be so unknowing of her situation. A list of possibilities ran through her head. Help Naruto? That would explain why she was placed so close to him, but that logic would apply to the village too. Help Konoha? She'd say let Konoha help itself, no way was she going to get involve with those damned politics. Or maybe she was thinking from the wrong angle. Maybe she was just sent to mess things up?

Nah.

She didn't care. So by that logic, she had _nothing_ to reason her situation with.

Following that logic would mean she had to decide things on her own. Who to help, what to do, how far to get involved, etc. She wasn't really keen on pulling a Naruto and optimistically save everyone, nope, she'll leave that to the real Naruto. Who happened to be her twin. Freaking amazing once the full realization set in, if you asked her. But everyone knew how the saying goes.

 _The more amazing, the more risks._ Or was it only Minako who said that? Hmm, she'd have to ask her...ah, there's that home sickness she needs for an average day stuck inside Minako Uzumaki.

One thing Minako could say for sure, she was glad she didn't have a name like Naruto, despite the meaning behind the naming. Because really, being stuck with a butchered version of Minato's name was better than being named after food. Dodged a bullet with that one. OR should she say dodged a kunai? No? Well, she thought it was pretty funny.

Snorting to herself she stopped walking. "I am lost." She blandly realized.

She came to one conclusion: she still had her shitty sense of direction. Joy.

Thirty minutes later an Anbu arrived, proving both her theory right and the fact that ninjas were dicks, and basically manhandled her to the Hokage's office.

"Mina!" She was immediately tackled into a hug by a sobbing Naruto.

Sighing, she returned the hug while feeling like a huge jerk, maybe she'd pull off on making Naruto independent for two more years. "Naru, don't cry." Because really, she wasn't good with kids crying.

Her statement only seemed to make Naruto sob harder and she sent a pleading look to the Hokage. He must have taken pity on her, because he proposed to go eat ramen.

Truth be told, Minako much preferred homemade food, but ramen wasn't so bad. She liked pork ramen best though, with lots of side dishes. Being an Uzumaki apparently meant having a black hole as a stomach.

* * *

Minako always found a morbid amusement in seeing people panic.

Even that got boring after five minutes of seeing Naruto panicking and blabbing about how ramen could fix things. It got annoying a minute after it got boring, a fact which her nurse seemed to agree on as she glared at Naruto. Or maybe the nurse was a dick to every Jinchuriki too. Maybe both.

"Naruto, calm down."

"BUT YOU'RE HURT!"

"So? It doesn't hurt." Minako shrugged earning a look from her nurse. "Wait outside, I'll be there in five." She waved Naruto off.

Her twin reluctantly left.

"Does it really not hurt?" Her nurse asked poking her swollen wrist.

"It hurts like hell." Minako winced away from the touches. "Naruto's just a headache when he's emotional." She stated as an explanation while the nurse used her magic chakra hands to defy everything Minako ever knew and cure her wound. Needless to say, it felt weird. Especially when her mind was telling her it shouldn't be possible, while it was the norm in the world she was in.

"Sooo," Minako drawled. "Any chance I could become a medic-nin?"

"No." The nurse bluntly said.

"Thank you, for crushing my non-existent dream of dealing with rabid ninjas. Really, thanks."

If anything the nurse seemed briefly amused. Maybe she wasn't that much of a jerk as Minako thought. "Thank you for healing me as well, miss..." Minako suddenly felt a bit bashful.

"You may call me Yakushi-san."

 _'Shit.'_

"...ah, okay."

Needless to say Minako added avoiding hospitals to her list of don'ts in the Naruverse.

* * *

Minako found out what her new hobby in the Naruverse would be. Something which greatly amused her, yet probably annoyed others. Getting lost and having her Anbu 'buddies' help her find her way back to...

A. The Hokage's office, where she would either get lectured or get to learn some new kanji.

B. Her and Naruto's place, where she'd laze around.

Really, Minako would be lost without her buddies.

She smiled as she was dumped into the Hokage's office. "Jii-san." She greeted noticing that there was an old lady as well. "Um, good afternoon m'am." She greeted politely.

"This must be Minako Uzumaki, the quiet one." The old lady noted. "My name's Koharu Utatane." She introduced herself. "What brings you here?" She questioned.

Minako stared at her for a moment as if she held all the answers, which was a possibility. "I wanted Jii-san to get me some books." She smoothly lied omitting her shitty sense of direction.

"Dedicated, are we?" Koharu mumbled glancing at Hiruzen. "She has potential. Fear not, I won't tell Danzo."

Hiruzen relaxed.

"Koharu-sama?" The two elders turned their attention back to Minako who had a shy smile. "Um, were you perhaps a shinobi?"

"Once upon a time." Koharu humored her.

"Then, if you don't mind, maybe you can tell me about it sometime?"

"Perhaps."

Minako smiled. "I won't be a bother, I promise."

"Hmm, if you are really interested I suppose I have time three days from now. I shall make the arrangements and let you know before hand."

Minako nodded feeling victorious.

Why? Because Koharu Utane was on team Tobirama, meaning maybe the woman knew a little about Fuinjutsu, which gave Minako an excuse for her future interest in the subject.

Another difference between the Uzumaki twins, Minako could be manipulative if the situation called for it.


	3. it's just a daily occurence

The civilian library, to put it in the nicest way Minako could, did not even meet her lowest expectation.

It was scarse, barely even containing a simple history book or a book on the plants founded in Konohagakure.

Even then, both books were either filled with propaganded lies or with too little information respectively.

For all intents and purposes, Minako wasn't really that surprised. She did live in a ninja village after all, so of course valuable information wouldn't be so easy to come by.

What did she expect anyway? Shinobi were paranoid beings. It would have been a surprise if she did find something useful.

Still, deciding to make the best out of her situation, Minako bounded over to the half empty shelves of books and despite her height being a disadvantage she managed to grab a book.

 _History of Konohagakure._

Minako had a wry smile, she knew for a fact that she knew more about the history of Konoha than half the village's inhabits. Perks of being an avid fan of Naruto, one could say.

Despite that, Minako decided to humor the book. She skimmed through it not even surprised to find that half the content consisted of omitted truth and the other half was glorifying the village.

She dropped the book, not caring that the librarian was glaring at her as she used the book as a stool and stood on it in order to reach another book.

She reached for another book.

 _Inner Structure of Konoha._

Interest piqued, Minako skimmed through the book. The book detailed where the clan compounds in Konoha was located, along with the civilian section, markets, and so on.

The book wasn't subtle on the fact that the Uchiha Clan's compound was the one further away from the heart of the village.

Minako could understand why the Uchiha were mad, but honestly? She would have been pleased at the location. It seemed like a vacation house with her.

 _'Peaceful and away from the stupidty known as Konoha inhabits.'_ She sighed in envy.

However, at least now she knew that if she ever wanted to get away from stuff she could hide out in the forest near the Uchiha compound.

Carefully setting the book down, because she wanted to memorize it as soon as she could, she continued scavenging around the library for any other interesting books.

In the end she was highly disappointed to find only four more books that seemed to fit her standards.

Her standards? Lacking bullshit, propaganda and bad grammar. Honestly, Minako wanted to cringe at the way literature was being handled around the Naruverse. None were up to par with the authors from her world.

"You shouldn't treat books like this." A scolding voice sounded from behind her making her jump in surprise.

Whirling around, she came face to face with a young Kabuto Yakushi not appreciating how the world seemed to make her meet both Yakushi barely in the span of a day.

The only thing that keeped her from saying anything as Kabuto walked over to the pile of books she deemed useless was the shock of seeing the young version of Kabuto, which meant he hadn't been corrupted yet.

Minako was conflicted.

One one hand, he would soon become a manipulative bastard who played on the emotions of people and basically did everything for the lulz. He would hurt her Naruto. He would probably sell Konoha out and as much as she didn't feel inclined to care, Konoha was still the place Naruto would come to care about so she had a reason to care for Konoha's wellbeing. And Kabuto? He definitely wasn't healthy for Konoha.

On the other hand, Minako never hated Kabuto. In fact, she actually liked his character and the fact that in a twisted way Kabuto was what Naruto had the possibility to become had Naruto not found his purpose. Not to mention, Minako found it gut wretching how the woman who raised him would soon be mind washed into forgetting about him.

Minako saw Kabuto as a victim of circumstances. Another one of Danzo's victims. She also found it poetic in a way that Itachi was the one who saved Kabuto in the series and manga. They were both victims of Danzo's dickery after all.

"Are you listening?" Kabuto politely asked earning her attention.

Minako's face softened as she looked up at the boy. He looked so innocent that it actually hurt Minako to know what would become of him and how many hardships he would have to face. How he would become someone that isn't innocent.

The sensation of actually being able to emphatize with someone was surprising as well. Usually, she wouldn't be this empathatic to someone. She would have to look into it later.

"I'm sorry." She politely intoned. "What did you say?"

Kabuto fixed his glasses, a gesture which Minako found cute, and his face softened at her peering purple eyes.

"You shouldn't treat these books so badly."

"Why not?"

Minako didn't mean to sound like a brat, but she was honestly curious as to why she shouldn't treat the books like trash. The books were trash after all.

"Because the authors took their time to write them and even if these books aren't all that good, you should respect them."

Minako blinked, feeling oddly ashamed at her rude behavior. "You're right." She agreed walking over to the pile of books. "I shouldn't have been so disrespectful to these people's effort."

Because at least these people tried to help others by spreading their knowledge.

"I am truly sorry." Minako nodded to Kabuto who seemed pleased. "I shall return them to their original spots."

"I'll help." Kabuto smiled.

Minako's eyes widened at the innocent and so genuinel smile on the boy's face.

"I'm Minako." She belatedly introduced herself realizing that while she did know his name, he didn't know hers.

"My name's Kabuto Yakushi," He sounded so happy to get the chance to introduce himself that it made Minako feel good about herself. "It's nice to meet you Minako-san."

Minako smiled. It's the first time someone actually found it nice to meet her during her stay in the Naruverse.

"Are you perhaps related to Nono-san?"

Kabuto perked up and explained his relation to said woman, an easy conversation arising from the two.

* * *

"Jii-chan! Guess what Mina did today!"

Minako raised an eyebrow at Naruto's behavior.

"I was not aware you liked to gossip Naru." She mumbled under her breath, yet she was fond of Naruto, just as he was of her.

"She ate more ramen than me!" Naruto sounded absolutely prideful for some reason.

"I was hungry." Minako shrugged at Hiruzen's curious look. "Besides, it's not my fault we only know how to make cup ramen. It isn't exactly healthy."

"I'm hungry, dattebayo!" Naruto loudly declared.

Minako crigned at the verbal tic praying to whatever deity that she didn't get the verbal tic.

And as expected Hiruzen took her and Naruto out for ramen... again.

Seriously, Minako didn't know whether to be touched at the fact that he took time off his work for them or pity the man's wallet. Hokage or not, she was sure both her and Naruto's huge apetite would leave a dent in the man's wallet.

More importantly, unlike Naruto who enjoyed getting free food, Minako hated it. She felt indebted to the Hokage and she hated it.

One day, she silently promised herself as she took a seat at Ichiraku's, she would pay back the Hokage for both her and Naruto's debt.

Even if it would probably reach millions. She'd find a way, damn it!

"Pork ramen, please." Minako politely requested ignoring an eight year old Ayame who kept poking her cheeks.

The girl's father just seemed amused.

Honestly, Minako didn't know why Ayame was so...attached to her. She just knew that the first time she saw Ayame she had politely bowed and introduced herself before suddenly hearing a squeal and being tackled into a hug.

If Minako had to compare Ayame's fangirl tendency to someone it would be either Ino or Sakura's. Except thankfully Ayame didn't harbour any romantic feelings for her.

Despite the cons of being Ayame's object of fangirling, Minako wouldn't deny that the gossip that escaped the girl's mouth was a definitive pro to their one-sided friendship.

On her third bowl of ramen Minako's left eye twitched, a sign of her finally running out of patience, and she glanced at Ayame. "What?" She blandly asked.

Ayame had a pleased smile. "Hi!"

"Greetings." Minako dryly greeted much to Hiruzen's amusement.

"If you keep eating like that, you'll become fat."

Minako scoffed. "As if, I'll have you know that I have a very high metabolism, which means by body burns a lot more calories. It doesn't matter how much I eat." She said in a matter of fact tone, her finger twitching in a visible effort of trying not to fix her non existing glasses.

She didn't care that she wasn't supposed to know that. She wasn't going for subtle.

Besides, she wasn't a fool. She knew Hiruzen would have spotted that she was smarter than most kids even if she tried to hide it.

Her brother would turn into an orange wearing ninja one day after all. Fuck subtelty was practically becoming a family creed.

"You're smart Ko-chan!"

Minako sighed as she got pulled into another hug by the older girl.

She better get a discount on her ramen.

* * *

"You!"

Minako blinked at the accusing finger in front of her before scowling at the one pointing it.

A girl with purple hair, distantly familiar to her.

Minako really wasn't in the mood for whatever crap the girl in front of her was spewing.

No, the body snatcher wanted to stab Hiruzen Sarutobi with a sharp kunai at the moment.

"You have to socialize with your peers, it isn't healthy for you and Naruto to shut yourselves out from the rest of the world." Hiruzen had said completely not mentioning the fact that the world was the one who rejected them first.

So what did the senile old man do?

He signed her up for local flower lessons! Or known as Hanakotoba, the language of flowers.

Minako silently clenched her fists. Sure, she loved gaining knowledge, but she didn't care for playing nice with bratty girls.

What's worse would be the fact that Naruto wasn't allowed to attend these lessons with her which greatly pissed her off.

She wanted Naruto to suffer with her damn it. Silently she decided to skip these stupid lessons the next day.

"Hey!" The girl yelled again earning Minako's attention.

She felt like someone had punched her in the guts. The shape, shade and scolding glint in those brown eyes made her feel like crying.

 _'Ma...'_

Shaking away the wave of homesickness she raised a nonchalant eyebrow at the girl. "Yes?"

"Stop stepping on those flowers!"

Minako took a step back as she realized she had been stepping on some white anemone. According to one of the books she took home, the meaning behind the flower was sincere.

"Who do you think you are anyway? You act like you're better than us, but you're new. I don't like you."

Minako chuckled, surprising the girl as she crouched down to pick up the flowers. "I don't act like that, I just prefer not to talk, you see. I'm sorry if it seemed that way." She apologized handing the girl the flowers. "You're a sincere person, so they suit you."

The girl seemed taken by surprise but she gently took the flowers from Minako. "Thank you."

"No problem." Minako paused before adding. "And don't worry about not liking me, I don't plan on attending these lessons anymore." Without pausing she turned around and walked away.

"Wait! I didn't get your name!"

"It's..." Minako faltered slightly, knowing that if she told the girl who she was, the girl would turn into an asshole.

But, Minako found that she didn't care. She was Naruto's twin, daughter of Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki. "Minako Uzumaki!" Minako declared.

"I'm Ami! You should come tomorrow too!"

Minako's lips quirked up into a smile.

She ended up coming tomorrow too. And the day after that too.

"Don't your parents tell you to stay away from me?" Minako curiously asked on her third day of flower language.

"I don't have any." Ami shrugged.

"Neither do I." Minako admitted.

She felt like an asshole. Not for bringing up that sad glint in Ami's eyes, but because she was glad Ami didn't have any parents. Otherwise Ami would have been told to stay away from her.

* * *

"I heard you're interested in history."

Minako gave Koharu a shy grin. "I love history." It wasn't exactly a lie either, she did love it. But her reason for loving it wasn't restricted to mere curiosity.

By knowing history, it would be easier to shape the future.

"You truly remind me of myself back in the days." Koharu managed a small smile as she sipped on her tea.

"You were there during the earlier years of Konoha, weren't you Koharu-san?"

"Yes, in fact I was even a part of the Nidaime Hokage's team."

Minako perked up. "What was it like?"

'Hook, line and sinker.'

Koharu honestly found Minako to be a smart child. The wisened woman could see the potential the girl in front of her had.

Just like Fugaku's child, just like Kagami's child, just like...

No, Koharu would personally make sure the girl doesn't end up like Orochimaru.

She glanced over to the daffodil flowers Minako had given her. Respect. She knew that Minako had intentionally gave her those flowers.

That for some reason Minako Uzumaki respected her.

But why?

So she asked.

In response, Minako gave her an odd look. "This may sound rude, but you are old Koharu-san. Which means you've survived three shinobi wars. If that isn't enough for me to respect you, I don't know what is."

Koharu had always been a humble person, but she would admit that she was pleased that the youngster in front of her recognized something others didn't realize. Or rather others would forget that Hiruzen wasn't the only shinobi from the olden days alive.

"We should do this again, if you do not mind Koharu-san!" Minako bowed with a grin at the end of the day.

"Yes." Koharu agreed at the end of the day.

 _'She truly has your charisma Minato.'_

* * *

Minako glared at her bleeding hand.

 _'Isn't his a good time for you to heal me Kurama?'_ She didn't get a reaction.

It made her sigh.

Did she really have the other half of Kurama in her?

She wasn't so sure.

Either she did have the fox and he refused to heal her just to spite her or she really wasn't a Jinchuriki.

"Minako-san!"

Minako grimaced, honestly she should have expected Kabuto to be at the library. He always came in the mornings after all.

She winced as he took her hand and inspected the self inflicted bite mark on it.

"What happened?"

"A dog bit me."

Both knew it was bullshit.

But Minako was glad Kabuto didn't pry into her business.

She stared as his hand glowed a dull green and he healed her.

"You know medical jutsu."

"I was taught." He sounded proud of himself.

"...thank you."

She wanted to ask why he healed her. She wanted to ask why he even bothered to talk to her everyday at the library.

But she didn't.

"You're welcome."

His smile said it all after all.

Just like hers did.

They were fond of each other.

* * *

Minako's eyes fluttered open, but she didn't bother to push Naruto's leg off hers. Because really?

She enjoyed coddling with her twin, Naruto was like her personal body pillow.

As fond as Minako was of Ami, Kabuto, Hiruzen, Koharu and even Ayame to an extent, she adored the shit out of Naruto.

Her Naru.

It wasn't surprising that she was this fond of Naruto considering that she spent like eighteen hours a day with her twin.

The result being that they were close, almost to the same extent as Hikaru and Kaoru from Ouran High School Host Club.

Except they weren't obsessed with others telling them apart or too codependent.

Minako was Naruto's most precious person and Naruto took away Minako's nightmares.

They were like each other's other half.

That didn't mean they weren't their own person. They had their own personality, likes, dislikes and hobbies. They just liked being in the other's presence.

'It's been a whole year already...' Minako thought to herself.

She had spent three hundred sixty five days in the Naruverse.

She had somehow managed to become friends with Ami, a civilian orphan and future bully of Sakura Haruno.

She had **become** book buddies with Kabuto Yakushi, a boy who would one day become a spy for Danzo and Orochimaru's right hand.

She had become a sort of student to Koharu, former member of team Tobirama and currently on the council.

She had become a surrogate granddaughter to Hiruzen Sarutobi, the third Hokage.

She had become Naruto's twin, the main character of a series in her world and her most precious person.

She smiled as she hugged Naruto.

"Happy birthday Naru."

* * *

 _ **Chapter End.**_

* * *

Author's Note: I'm glad to see you're all liking this story so far~! I'll say this from the start, this story isn't an incest. Rest assured of that. I'm going for a different approach on the whole Naruto having a twin storyline, something I hope you all have already noticed.

Questions:

1\. What do you think of Minako?

2\. Who do you think will be Minako's best friend and why?


	4. Hyuga Affair

_With no way for all of them to escape, Tobirama-sensei volunteered to act as a decoy in place of Hiruzen. As he departed, he passed the title of Hokage to Hiruzen before being killed by Kinkaku._

Minako's purples eyes narrowed at her notes of Koharu's tales. (She was sort of making a documentary about the woman's life, knowledge is power after all.)Lately, the female Uzumaki has been noticing that Koharu's stories revolved around Kumogakure, the village hidden in clouds.

Feeling a bit suspicious Minako went over her notes of their previous gathering, deciding to ignore the books she had been planning to read. It wasn't like the library was going to close soon.

 _Like Hashirama-sama before him, Tobirama-sensei tried to foster good relations with the other villages. He planned an alliance between Konoha and Kumogakure, but during a formal ceremony he and the Second Raikage were attacked by theGold and Silver Brothers and left near death._

Minako knew for a fact that something was going to happen. She's spent about a year with Koharu, enough to recognize that the old woman was guarded and cautious about something.

But what?

The blonde heaved a sigh.

"Are you okay?"

Minako yelped in surprise before giving Kabuto a slight glare. "Stop sneaking up on me!" She hissed at the sheepish boy.

"Sorry."

Minako blinked. There was something off in the way Kabuto had apologized, as if he was distracted. But the blonde made it a point not to stick her nose in _Kabuto's_ business. She didn't want it to affect her or Naruto after all. "Kumogakure." She blurted without a thought. "Latest news?"

Kabuto barely even blinked at what she said, considering she's been using his 'gossiping' skills for a year now. "Oh, the upcoming peace treaty." Kabuto started fixing his glasses. "Apparently, it's on the same date as the Hyuga Clan's heiress' birthday."

Minako's eyes widened. _'The Hyuga affair's coming up.'_ She realized.

How did that slip her head? It was one of the things she could change without any serious backlash, well aside from Neji losing his tragic backstory. But that was a plus, right? The only problem was that she didn't really think about how to actually avoid the problem...

But should she anyway?

"Minako-san..."

Minako blinked at Kabuto, seeing a frown on the boy's features. "Is something wrong?"

"You should ask for an apprenticeship under Hotaru-sama."

Minako's eyes widened. Of course, she had told Kabuto that she would sometimes meet up with the councilwoman. But he had never mentioned anything about her choice before. Why now? "Where did this come from?" She almost pinched herself for sounding vulnerable.

"You're an Uzumaki. Even if only half. Hotaru-sama is decent at sealing, something which an Uzumaki usually specializes in, and she's taught an Uzumaki before. She's one of the few people who can help you realize your potential."

Minako narrowed her eyes. "Kabuto. I know you. You're hiding something."

Kabuto held her gaze with an almost solemn look.

"Mina! Kabu-nii!"

The mentioned two broke their staring contest to look at Naruto.

"Naruto-kun," Kabuto was the first to speak. "Is something the matter?"

Naruto offered the older boy a sheepish smile. "The stupid Uchiha police."

"Oh, you need an alibi." Kabuto deduced.

Minako sighed. "It's not nice to have Kabuto lie for you, dattebane."

"Dattebane?" The two boys repeated.

A furious blush spread across Minako's face.

She hadn't escaped the damned Uzumaki tic.

 _'Just my rotten luck!'_ She thought as Naruto laughed at her.

Even so, she requested that apprenticeship. She trusted Kabuto. That was a fact.

* * *

Minako didn't care about most things.

If she had to name one thing she valued though, it would be family. Her list of 'family' was extremely short though, consisting of only Naruto and old man Sarutobi. That meant she would do anything in her power for them and their own family.

Hinata Hyuga?

The shy girl was also family. If only because she would end up marrying her brother. Which meant Neji was also family. Preventing Neji's father's death was something that would please Hinata and Neji which meant it would also please Naruto considering Naruto's happiness came from his friends' happiness.

Minako was fully aware of how weird that sounded. The weirdness came with being related to an all loving hero after all.

"Y-you...Uchiha-san!" She called.

The best person who could help her would be a police after all.

Said person paused and turned around. "Gah, it's the blonde brat..."

"Excuse me?" Minako frowned in confusion, realizing he had mistaken her for her twin.

"Oh, wait, you're the quiet one."

Minako simply offered a blank expression.

The Uchiha offered a sheepish smile.

 _'Since when do the Uchiha smile?'_ Minako wondered.

"What can I help you with?"

Minako fidgeted. "This is gonna be hard to explain..." She mumbled. "First off, what's your name?"

"Shisui Uchiha."

 _'Should have known.'_ Minako thought to herself. "Shisui-san, the Hyuga heiress will be in danger."

* * *

Shisui Uchiha would sometimes assist his clan's police force when he was off duty.

He enjoyed helping the civilians out with trivial matters after all, despite the way said civilians were wary of him and his clansmen. So when he had gotten two weeks off duty, he hadn't imagined himself being approached by the least active Uzumaki twin. Nor did he imagine said Uzumaki to sprout out some conspiracy theory on how one of the Kumogakure ninja was up to no good and would most likely endanger Hinata Hyuga's life.

So there he was, in the middle of the night, hiding in a tree with Minako Uzumaki after having been dragged to spy on the Hyuga compound.

"See? Nothing's going to happen. You're just paranoid." He quietly told the girl.

She sent him a glare. "It's not paranoia if I'm right."

The village questioned Naruto's sanity. Shisui was beginning to question Minako's sanity as well.

"Just wait." Minako sighed. "Not like you have anything better to do aside from helping ungratefully stupid civilians."

Shisui was about to defend the civilians, despite knowing that Minako was right about them, but then the girl shushed him. He blinked in disbelief. _'Did a four year old just shush me?'_

Despite that, he shut his mouth and looked towards where the girl was pointing.

He saw a...Kumogakure ninja.

"It's probably just a coincidence..." He mumbled.

Minako raised an eyebrow at him.

 _'She was actually right...'_ He admitted to himself body flickering towards the ninja and quietly knocked him out. _'Despite how incompetent this ninja was.'_ He couldn't help but deadpan at the shinobi.

He felt Minako walking up to him and grimaced at her. "Sorry for not believing you..." He apologized, feeling guilty for ruling off her worries as childish paranoia.

She didn't even blink at him. "Doesn't matter. I wouldn't have believed me either if I was in your shoes. We should inform Hyuga-sama what's going on though, I think his patience is wearing thin." She said looking directly over his shoulders.

"What?" Shisui mumbled following her line of sight to see the Hyuga Clan Head.

"You knew I was here." Hiashi noted.

Minako merely nodded. "My presence isn't needed here though and it's way past my curfew. I bid you two a lovely evening." She bowed before walking away, not even sparing them a glance.

Shisui sent her a look of disbelief. _'Sure, leave me to deal with this by myself!'_

* * *

Minako knew that preventing the Hyuga Affair would come and bite her in the butt.

She was right. It bit her in the butt in the form of a stalker.

"It's unappealing to see your face every morning." She deadpanned at Shisui Uchiha who appeared right after Naruto had left to go wreak havoc among the village.

Shisui offered her a wounded smile. "I thought I was handsome."

"Hm, now who was the liar who told you that?"

"Ah, you're so mean Mi-chan."

Minako's eyebrow twitched. "Mi-chan?"

Shisui nodded. "That's my nickname for you."

"Ah, I see."

"It's only fair if you call me something too. How about Shi-chan?"

"Alright Shi-chan." She easily agreed hoping he would leave already. Hanging out with an Uchiha would surely turn a few heads in her direction, something which she didn't want.

"I have a question."

"Go ask a teacher."

"Why did you bring two bento? I know you didn't make one for me."

"Perspective."

Shisui simply stared at her.

Minako sighed, closing the book she was reading on the Sannin. "The second bento is for my book buddy."

"You have a book buddy? But I haven't seen you talking to anyone here and it's almost been two weeks."

Minako rolled her eyes in order to hide her frustration. "He just hasn't been showing up lately, okay? You can have his bento."

"Really? Usually you eat it in front of me."

"I'm feeling generous today."

Shisui grinned taking the bento.

Minako rested her head on her palm, absently watching her stalker. She was worried. Kabuto would normally tell her if he's going to be gone for a few days. But he's been gone for two weeks and she hasn't heard from him.

Her eyes narrowed.

Maybe he really was using her and now that he knows enough about her, he decided to leave. She wasn't arrogant enough to think she could change him nor his nature. She wasn't important enough to him to influence him.

"This is delicious Mi-chan!"

"It's just rice and meat."

* * *

"Hyuga-sama." Minako bowed in greeting to Hizashi before nodding at Neji in greeting. "What brings you to my humble abode?" She asked selectively ignoring Naruto's humming as the boy showered.

"My brother wishes to formally thank you for your part in preventing Hinata-sama's kidnap." Hizashi simply said.

"I assume the T&I gathered sufficient information then." Minako stated before nodding. "A thank you isn't necessary Hyuga-sama."

"Please, just Hizashi is fine. And this is my son Neji."

"Hizashi-san then."

"As for the thank you, we insist. You can bring your brother along as well. Next week on Sunday, around six."

Minako heaved a resigned sigh. "Will Shi-ch...Shisui-san be there as well?" She asked.

Hizashi blinked. "Yes, he'll be bringing along his cousins Itachi and Sasuke."

 _'The joy.'_ Minako sarcastically thought.

"May I bring a friend of mine as well?" No way was she excluding Ami from socializing with others when it was her fault Ami didn't have any friends.

"I don't see any problems."

"Very well. I humbly accept the invitation. Until next week Hizashi-san, Neji-kun." She offered Neji a kind smile.

Then she slammed the door in their faces muttering about 'stupid clan formalities' and 'kimono shopping.'

Hizashi chuckled. "She truly is an Uzumaki." He was starting to doubt it, but now there was no doubt about it. Despite taking after her father, she still had her mother's qualities.

"She's...interesting." Neji added.

"How so?" Hizashi asked.

"Hinata-sama's shy and soft spoken and Uzumaki-san is also soft spoken but not shy."

"Let's see if the Uzumaki twins can bring our Hinata-sama out of her shell."

Neji blinked at his father's secretive smile.

Meanwhile Minako gave her piggy bank a solemn look. "It was stupid of me to think I could save up money in this godforsaken world. Forgive me, Piggy-chan." And she threw him against the wall.

Naruto yelped from the shower. "What was that Mina?!" He yelled.

"Just a sacrificing to Jashin." Minako deadpanned.

"Who's Jashin?"

"A stupid god."

"Then why-"

"I'm not taking any chances, stupid or not."

* * *

 _ **Chapter End.**_

* * *

 ** _Author's Note:_** _Believe it or not, Minako's one of the hardest characters I've ever written..._

 ** _Questions:_**

 ** _1._** ** _What happened to Kabuto?_**

 ** _2\. Why is Shisui 'stalking' Minako?_**

 ** _3\. Will Minako ever show more emotion?_**

 _Next chapter preview:_

 _"Isn't it obvious? He's crushing on you!"_

 _"Where's Kabu-nii?"_

 _"Do you know why the Uzumaki are instinct?"_

 _"He left."_

 _"Konoha...is precious to Naruto-kun. But what about you? Do you care about Konoha?"_

 _"The answer isn't one you'd like."_


	5. A Hyuga Dinner

Minako ended up getting Naruto a burnt orange kimono, considering her twin wouldn't accept any other color, and a dark blue kimono for herself. Both had gotten a red obi to match though, at the insistence of Naruto.

Ami, who had met up with them on the way to the Hyuga Compound, wore a simple purple kimono. She too had a red obi to match, the fact greatly irked Naruto who had wanted them to 'twin' a bit. Obviously they couldn't twin anymore.

 _'...my funds have been shot to hell.'_ Minako mourned, her face on the outside completely devoid of emotion.

"How did you two get an invite to the Hyuga Compound anyway?" Ami, ever the curious little thing, asked.

"Dunno, ask Mina." Naruto shrugged, never questioning his twin, just as she never really questioned him. They had an unspoken agreement to simply go along with the other's antics.

Ami turned her brown eyes towards Minako.

Minako tried to avoid answering, but then sighed. Both Naruto and Ami had the right to know a bit of what had happened, but Minako wasn't planning on divulging them with every single piece of information. No, she was too paranoid to do that. "I helped the clan head with something a while back, so he wants to thank me with the only thing that can please me."

"Food?" Naruto and Ami asked at the same time, both sporting excited looks in their eyes.

Minako offered them a half smile, not surprised that they were excited considering none of them got to eat quality food. "I suppose so."

Naruto cheered.

"Too bad I didn't bring any plastic tubs..." Ami grumbled.

Minako chuckled at them. "Well, we'll probably meet his daughter as well. I expect you two to be on your best behavior, alright? The poor girl needs some friends." Her gaze lingered on Naruto in particular, knowing that out of all of them Naruto was the one most likely to befriend the heiress. "Shi-chan and his cousins will be there too."

"Shi-chan?" Both Naruto and Ami repeated in confusion.

 _'If Ami had blonde hair and blue eyes, she could pass off as Naruto's twin instead of me.'_ Minako thought in amusement.

"Shisui Uchiha. My personal stalker." Minako shrugged.

"Stalker?" Naruto asked with a frown.

"A person who harasses or persecutes someone with unwanted and obsessive attention." Minako recited for her twin, knowing full well that Naruto had no idea what the word meant. In fact she was sure that if it wasn't for her, his vocabulary would no doubt be lacking.

Naruto suddenly gained a scowl. "I don't like this person."

Before Minako could say anything, Ami squealed.

"Do you know what this meas?!" She practically yelled out to the whole world.

"What?" Both Minako and Naruto asked at the same time.

"He's obviously crushing on you!"

Minako sweat dropped.

"Crushing?" Naruto repeated, confused. "He's hurting you?" Naruto asked giving Minako a concerned look, his eyes slightly darkened with protectiveness. "I'll kick his ass, dattebayo!"

"Not _that_ crushing, idiot." Ami rolled her eyes.

"She means he likes me, in a romantic sense." Naruto looked even more confused. "You know, those icky stuff adults do in public?" Minako spoke in terms Naruto would understand.

Naruto's cheeks colored. "NO!"

Minako winced at the loud volume.

"YES!" Ami roared in response.

"Kabu-nii is the only person I'd accept as Minako's...l-l- _lover_..." Naruto stuttered the last part out, a completely serious look on his face.

Minako rolled her eyes. _'Great, talk about overprotective brothers. I didn't expect Naruto to be one though. And Kabuto? Seriously? I thought you were a good judge of character Naru.'_

"Where is he anyways?" Ami asked. "He's your best friend, right? So you invited him too, right?" Her questions were directed towards Minako.

The mildly annoyed look she had disappeared into a blank one. "He's gone." She wasn't sure if she sounded more harsh than she intended to, but she didn't care. It wasn't like she had expected Kabuto to actually think of her as a friend. No, she was the one who got attached.

He obviously didn't.

Before Naruto or Ami could respond, Minako picked up the pace.

* * *

Outside of the compound stood three figures.

Neji's father Hizashi, Neji and Hinata.

"Good afternoon." Minako smoothly greeted going into a polite bow.

Naruto and Ami both followed her actions, hastily greeting them.

Hizashi chuckled. "Please, there is no need for such formality." But Minako knew those were empty words. Koharu had stressed out manners to her the day before after all.

Minako was not going to screw this up. Especially not since Koharu implied that getting on the Hyuga's good side would benefit Naruto greatly in the future, something which Minako truly needed.

"It is good to see you again Hizashi-san, Neji-kun." She nodded to them before turning her gaze to Hinata, who was partially hiding behind Neji. The girl didn't scream clan heiress at all, but Minako didn't really care. Her lips quirked up into a smile. "It is a pleasure to meet you Hyuga-sama."

"N-no, it's m-my pleasure. I-I wanted t-to thank y-you! P-please call m-me Hinata." Hinata bowed.

Minako smiled. _'She's as cute as a mouse, isn't she?'_

"Very well Hinata-chan." Minako may be the most well mannered Uzumaki out of her twin, but when push comes to shove she didn't like formalities either. "I hope we can become friends. You as well Neji-kun." She nodded to Neji who looked surprised before giving Naruto and Ami a look.

Taking her cue, they both straightened up.

"Hello, I am Ami. A friend of Minako. I hope we all get along." Ami politely smiled.

Minako mentally noted that she had to compliment Ami later, it wasn't every day a civilian could maintain their cool in front of Clan members. Then she looked at Naruto, waiting for him to introduce himself before she realized he was staring at something.

She followed his gaze to see him looking into Hinata's eyes.

 _'...huh?'_ Minako was confused, yet at the same time not. She seriously didn't know how to make out of what was going on. Naruto wasn't one for liking girls. Especially not at a young age.

"Y-your eyes are different!"

 _'...'_ Minako gave her brother an unimpressed look, finally catching on to what Naruto was trying to say.

"Uh, I mean the other Hyuga have completely white, but yours is different. In a good way! They're pretty, dattebayo!"

In response Hinata's face became red. "T-thank you."

"Anyway." Ami interjected politely. "Are the others here yet?"

Minako's eyebrows furrowed, noticing something akin to annoyance in Ami's eyes. _'Is she perhaps jealous?'_ That wasn't possible, was it? However, Minako noted to herself to keep an eye on things.

"Yes, they are waiting outside." Hizashi informed. "Hiashi-sama has been held back due to a meeting, but he will be back in the evening. I assume you have no other plans?"

"None." Minako assured.

* * *

Hiashi was having a major headache. He had just wanted to have a nice Sunday, thank the female Uzumaki for thwarting Kumo's ploys to weaken the Hyuga clan and maybe even discuss some names for his second daughter with his wife.

He certainly didn't want to spend his afternoon discussing what to do with the Uzumaki twins.

"We are _not_ sending them to ROOT." Koharu firmly said.

Her statement surprised the Clan Heads, who had all been expecting the woman to side with Danzo. Yet she was firmly against the idea. "We will not spit on the Yondaime's wishes. He wanted a normal childhood for those two and I will not be the one to deny our Fourth's dying wish. I certainly hope none of you would too."

For a moment no one spoke.

"Troublesome." Shikaku finally said. "Neither wants to become civilians, obviously. So they'll just join the Academy. If they want, they can graduate early, but _if_ they pass the exams. How's that?"

"It sounds fair." Hiashi spoke up, not really surprising anyone considering they all knew that the female Uzumaki had a hand in the Kumo incident. "The Yondaime wanted equality for his children, which means we will treat them like we would want out children to be treated."

"What about Minako Uzumaki? Unlike her twin, she shows potential." Tsume Inuzuka asked.

"She's my apprentice. Whatever happens to her, is none of anyone's concern." Koharu's tone held a certain finality to it. "Now, let's discuss the Kumo situation. Shall we enforce a treaty? Or demand something?"

"We can't let the Kumo-nin go. He saw Minako and I'm sure the Raikage will figure it out." Another Clan Head pointed out.

Murmurs spread.

* * *

Minako sat on the porch, between Shisui and Itachi as they looked over the other kids. Sasuke, Naruto, Hinata, Neji and Ami were playing a pseudo game of ninja tag, with Sasuke and Naruto competing against each other.

"Talk about hate at first sight." Minako muttered in amusement.

"Minako-san. Should you not be playing with them too?" Itachi curiously asked.

Minako shrugged in response. "I prefer to watch."

"See? I told you she'd be like this." Shisui smugly pointed out.

"Oh?" Minako raised her eyebrow at Shisui.

"It's cute, huh?" Shisui continued.

"It is different, I suppose." Itachi stated.

Minako puffed her cheeks. "I don't want to hear that from you, _Brother Complex_." She retorted.

Shisui laughed as Itachi blinked in surprise. "Mi-chan noticed it~!"

Itachi looked at Minako who stared back at him to something akin to understanding and pity. Odd, he decided. "I see, this is why Shisui finds you interesting."

"Gah, don't tell me you're gonna stalk me too?" Minako scrunched up her nose in distaste.

Itachi smiled slightly, but before he could respond Shisui had wrapped his arms around her and pulled her towards him. He stuck out his tongue towards Itachi in a childish manner. "No way! Mi-chan's mine. Get your own Mi-chan."

"I wasn't aware that I was an object." Minako deadpanned.

"OI, LET GO OF MY SISTER YOU CREEP!"

"DON'T CALL MY COUSIN A CREEP!"

Then Naruto and Sasuke started insulting each other, while the other three tried to intervene.

Minako couldn't help but softly laugh. "They're so simple-minded." She found herself commenting as Shisui's grip loosened. Yet, she didn't try to wiggle out of his hold, finding some comfort in it.

"I'm glad Mi-chan's happy for once." Shisui whispered in her ears.

She was sure Itachi heard anyways.

"Hmph."

Yet, the lack of Kabuto's presence still stung a bit.

Eventually Neji wandered over to their group, something which didn't surprise the three. They noticed that Neji was more of an observer too, just like them.

"Is something wrong Neji-kun?" Minako curiously asked as Neji kept glancing at her.

"Uh," Neji blushed. "Are you and Shisui-san..." He trailed off.

"Nope." Minako smiled at the boy. "Shisui simply likes using me as a teddy bear." She patiently explained, writing off Neji's inquiry as a childish curiosity.

Shisui pouted. "Call me Shi-chan."

"Hai, hai Shi-chan." Minako shook her head before looking at Neji again. Her smile twitched.

Neji noticed and tilted his head curiously. "Is something wrong Minako-san?"

"Your hair. It's a mess." Minako bluntly said.

Neji's cheeks colored in embarrassment.

 _'Cute...'_ Minako blinked. "May I braid it?" She asked while approaching the boy, ignoring Shisui's crocodile tears and mutters of her abandoning him for another.

Neji nodded.

Minako softly smiled and brushed her fingers through the boy's hair. "So soft..." She muttered.

Neji leaned into the touch, the poor kid was probably deprived of physical contact. It was obvious despite Hizashi's effort. _'Well, to hell with a simple you're welcome and goodbye. Hiashi is going to let me, Naruto and Ami become friends with Neji and Hinata.'_ Out of the corner of her eyes she saw Naruto and Sasuke teaming up against Hinata and Ami. _'And I'll guilt trip Mikoto into letting Fugaku let us rope Sasuke into our group.'_

She nodded to herself in determination.

"Is something wrong Minako-san?" Itachi asked.

Minako simply gave him a smile filled with mischief. _'I guess it's impossible for me to be a bystander, considering I'm Naruto's sister. Besides I'm already adding Shisui to the people I care about. Might as well take on Sasuke and Itachi too, considering I have a feeling that I'll see them around a lot.'_

 _'She really is Naruto-kun's sister.'_ Itachi realized in that moment.

* * *

"I am sorry for being late to my own thank you meal." Hiashi apologized to his six guests.

"No problem Hinata's old man." Naruto grinned.

Ami and Minako pinched Naruto's legs.

"Dobe." Sasuke muttered under his breath earning a warning look from Itachi.

"Don't worry Hyuga-sama." Minako and Shisui said at the same time.

Hiashi almost blinked. The two were sitting next to each other, with Minako's guests on her side and Shisui's guests on his side. While Hiashi, Hizashi, Neji and Hinata sat across from them.

Naruto shot Shisui an annoyed look.

Sasuke shot Naruto an annoyed look in return.

Ami was staring at Hinata intensely.

Neji was staring at Minako.

"Shall we begin?" Itachi broke the silence making everyone focus on their meal.

"Minako Uzumaki, I thank you for all your help."

Minako offered Hiashi a polite smile. "Nonsense, as a resident of Konohagakure it was my job to do so." Everyone except for Shisui, Hiashi and Hizashi bought her bullshit. The latter two only because they read some reports on her, enough to know that Minako wasn't by any means selfless for no reason.

Shisui, simply because he heard her calling the civilians stupid more than a few times.

"Still, is there anything you would like in return?" Hiashi cautiously asked. Minako was smart, he knew. Despite her age, he knew she knew a lot more than her peers knew. Not to mention how she was apprenticed by Koharu.

"Your blessings to Naruto, Ami and Sasuke-kun's friendship towards Hinata-chan and Neji-kun." Minako replied without missing a beat.

Hiashi was about to ask her why she didn't include herself, before he paused. His lips curved up into an unnoticeable smile. _'So she picked up on how cautious I am towards her.'_

What Minako was basically saying was that she knew he wouldn't genuinely approve of the friendship if she had included her own name. But now he would have no reason to really refuse.

"Granted."

She smiled at him.

 _'Looks like I'll have to prove myself to him. Damn paranoid ninjas...'_

* * *

"Are you going to start stalking me too?" Minako found herself asking as Itachi slid into a seat across from her. She almost hissed at him to sit somewhere else, because that spot was Kabuto's. But she bit her tongue and merely gave him an uninterested look.

"Konoha...is precious to Naruto-kun. But what about you? Do you care about Konoha?"

 _'He's testing me.'_ Minako realized, staring straight into his eyes. _'Why?'_ She wondered. Hiashi, Koharu or Hiruzen testing her made sense, but Itachi? It threw her off guard.

"The answer isn't one _you'd_ like." Minako cautiously informed. She wasn't lying considering Itachi had a 'Konoha is life' outlook on things, despite how badly the village would screw him over if she doesn't manage to prevent the massacre.

It was his turn to give her an intense look.

"You're pretty." Minako stated, a smile on her features. "You'll probably be very handsome in the future. Too bad you're not really my type." She wistfully said. Then again, she probably wasn't his type either considering she wasn't understanding to the whole Konoha being a priority thing every Konoha-non had going.

No one would ever believe her, but her comment made Itachi's eyes widen in surprise. If she squinted she could see color covering the usually stoic Uchiha's cheeks. She gave him a cheeky smile. "How cute~!"

"...you and Shisui are quite similar, no wonder he's fond of you..."

"Mi-chan~! Guess what? I bought dango from that place you-eh?! What are _you_ doing here Itachi?"

Itachi nodded to Shisui in acknowledgement.

"Oh, hey Shisui."

"Itachi, take another seat." Shisui seriously said.

Itachi blinked, but he complied. He sat down somewhere else. He didn't even comment when Shisui took the seat next to Minako instead of the now vacant spot.

Minako's eyes watered a bit, but she'd never admit it. _'He noticed..'_ Then again Shisui seemed to notice the small things about her a lot.

"I have no intention of sharing my Mi-chan." Shisui grinned slinging his arm over her shoulders. "Besides, your _girlfriend_ has been asking around for you."

No one would ever believe her or Shisui, but Itachi's cheeks colored. Then he left after muttering a goodbye.

"Oh? He has a girlfriend?" Minako curiously asked.

Shisui simply shrugged. "More like a crush."

"Interesting."

Shisui blinked as Minako got a scheming look. He poked her cheek. "What are you thinking about Mi-chan?"

She turned towards him with a smile. "Feel like stalking them Shi-chan?"

Shisui grinned. "Of course Mi-chan!"

They left.

(Minako still glanced at the vacant seat with a hopeful look.)

* * *

 _ **Chapter End.**_

* * *

 _ **Author's Note:** Well, that was that. Liked it?_

 ** _Questions:_**

 ** _1\. Will Hiashi ever approve of Minako?_**

 ** _2\. How is Danzo feeling?_**

 ** _3\. What is Minako's type anyways?_**


	6. a bird's broken wing

"Oh, you're back early. Usually you're not back until eight and then off to training."

Shisui sheepishly smiled at his grand-uncle Kagami, well aware that his only living family member and perhaps even a handful of fellow Clan members were all aware of Shisui's almost daily morning rendezvous with the female Uzumaki at the library.

"She wasn't there," Shisui admitted, not bothering to make up an excuse or anything, "It happens."

"Or perhaps she finally got tired of your less than entertaining company," Kagami ruefully suggested, using his hand to signal Shisui to follow him to the tatami room.

"Kagami-jii!" Shisui whined at the suggestion as he followed his grand-uncle, "Mi-chan likes me!"

"I believe the word you meant to use is _tolerate_ , she tolerates you," Kagami easily quipped, always up for the chance to poke fun at his grand-nephew.

"She even makes me bento for lunch!"

"It's called being polite."

"She calls me Shi-chan!"

"...you probably forced her to."

"..."

Shisui could feel his grand-uncle smirking, despite walking behind. "Okay, maybe I _insisted_ ," the young prodigy was momentarily cut off by his grand-uncle's cough, "But she calls me Shi-chan anyway!"

Finally, the duo sat down across each other, a Go board separating them.

It was as if a switch had flipped.

The easy-going humor vanished as the two sobered up.

"You've gotten Fugaku and the others' attention, Shisui. They say it's unlike you to disobey rules, unofficial or not. For once, I am inclined to agree."

"I'm not breaking the rule," Shisui protested as Kagami moved a black piece, "Mi-chan's-"

"That parts irrelevant and you know it."

Shisui frowned as he moved his own white piece. "Jii-san..."

Kagami sighed, "This is the second time you've done something brash."

Shisui paused, recalling the first time he had even gotten in trouble with his clan. He and Itachi had accidentally stumbled upon a heated Clan Meeting and consequently found out about the Jinchuriki. They had gotten off with a warning and from then on the clan had changed the meeting place to one more hidden, so no other children or passerby would stumble upon it.

Yes.

The first time Shisui had unintentionally broken a rule it had been accidental.

But this time?

It was intentional. One hundred percent.

"Don't get me wrong," Kagami continued, ripping Shisui away from his musing, "I support your decisions, all of them. Including your association with Minako and Naruto, considering the boy goes wherever his sister does. I am just puzzled."

Shisui didn't blame his grand-uncle.

Even he was puzzled in the beginning.

If one were to ask any villager in Konoha (who didn't resent the Uzumaki twins) which Uzumaki was the more interesting one, they'd instantly answer _Naruto_. Hell, even Minako herself would tell you her twin was more interesting than her.

Naruto was boisterous, exuberant and unorthodox. He seemed shy at first in person, but he was anything but. He was outgoing, playful and he demanded everyone's attention whenever he entered a room. He was so full of life.

On the other hand, Minako was apathetic and quiet. That's what everyone saw.

 _"My presence isn't needed here though and it's way past my curfew. I bid you two a lovely evening."_

Heck, that's what Shisui saw at first too. Cold indifference to anyone who wasn't Naruto Uzumaki. That's what he saw of her.

Up until he didn't.

Up until he saw her _smile_. Not smirk or a twitch of the lip, but a full blown smile. Directed at _him_ when he had casually complimented her eye color. That's when his eyes had opened.

Minako Uzumaki was quiet and apathetic person. It was true.

But at the same time it wasn't.

She smiled, she laughed, she joked and she even giggled!

Minako had every emotion everyone else had. She just didn't show it much. Whether due to her time at the orphanage, a topic which always effectively causes her to clam up and ignore him for hours, or because she just didn't feel free to express herself in public.

Don't get Shisui wrong, both Naruto and Minako were interesting.

But they were interesting in different ways.

Naruto, for example, was interesting in a cute puppy way. Happy to receive anyone's attention and love. Wanting to impress others to the point of being extremely and utterly naive. Always cheerful. Just like a puppy.

Minako, on the other hand? She was interesting in a stray kitten kind of way. Wary of everyone. Whimsical. Quick-witted. Intelligent. Always thinking about something and you'd never know what until she allows you to. Just like a stray kitten.

Shisui smiled, imagining Minako with a pair of cat ears and a tail. What color would fit her best? White or black? Perhaps brown or a reddish color? Decisions, decisions.

Personally, he thought she looked cute either way. But that was just a fact in his biased opinion.

"She's like a stray kitten," Shisui finally said, earning his grand-uncle's attention. The duo looked at each other. "I've always been a fan of kittens."

Kagami simply had that look Shisui was used to receiving. Fondness, resignation and pride. The look never failed to warm Shisui.

"Then tell her I'll leave a bowl of milk outside our house for her. And biscuits for the pup."

Shisui grinned, knowing that was his grand-uncle's way of saying that Minako was welcomed anytime. Which obviously included Naruto.

"For now, it seems like I win again."

The heartwarming scene quickly evaporated as Shisui looked down at the board.

He lost.

"AH! I demand a rematch!"

Believe it or not, he was also a sore loser.

* * *

Minako sneezed.

"Don't die!"

Minako sighed as Naruto started panicking.

Ami, bless her soul, flicked Naruto's forehead in a very Itachi-like manner, "She's not dying, Uzu-baka."

Both her and Minako blinked when Naruto fell down on his butt in surprise.

Instead of getting pissed, Naruto visibly relaxed. He trusted Ami's judgement, considering the purple-haired girl was smart. Not as smart as his sister, but still. Besides, on a closer inspection, Minako's face was as bored as ever.

No one could keep a bored face if they were dying, right?

Right.

"Naru."

Naruto closed his eyes as Minako poked his cheek, "What was that for Mina?"

In response, Minako smirked at her twin brother. It no longer felt weird calling Naruto her family. "I just felt like it, Naru," she answered, offering Naruto her hand.

Naruto took it without hesitation and Minako pulled him up.

"Now that that's done," Ami rolled her eyes when Naruto didn't let go of Minako's hand, "Why are we heading over to the Hyuuga?"

Minako interlaced her fingers through her twin's, not really caring about the public display of family affection they were oozing, "I told you already Ami. Hinata-chan and Neji-kun are going to be our new friends, they seem like they need it."

Naruto eagerly nodded in agreement, "And they're nice!"

Ami grimaced at the siblings' determination to fully befriend the heiress and her cousin. It's not that she didn't like the two. In fact, she was quite neutral. It's just, uh, they looked at Naruto and Minako weirdly, okay?

The girl, Hinata, kept staring at Naruto as if he was a deity or something. Which the idiot wasn't, which was why it annoyed Ami even more when Hinata would do it.

The boy, Neji, kept staring at Minako as if she was a princess. News flash? Minako wasn't.

Minako and Naruto were simply Ami's best friends.

That's it.

Hinata and Neji saw them for something they weren't.

Ami didn't mind the idea of their trio becoming a group of five. The only condition she had was that Hinata and Neji both had to befriend her best friends for the right reasons, not the wrong reason. Ami didn't want Hinata to look for a savior in Naruto in any situation. Likewise, she didn't want Neji to treat Minako like royalty and she was pretty sure Minako didn't want this either.

 _'I'll just have to make it clear to them.'_

Minako blinked as Ami suddenly sped up.

Naruto, ever the competitive little boy, sped up as well.

"Ah...!" Minako gasped in surprise as she was pulled along.

Before long they were already approaching the compound entry, where Hizashi stood with Neji and Hinata.

"Greetings Hizashi-san, Neji-kun, Hinata-chan."

"Yo!"

"Good afternoon."

Minako almost face palmed at her twin's way of greeting clan members. Actually, people in general. But she was too fond of Naruto to ever consider changing his base personality.

She'll just settle for changing his self-sacrificing ways.

Minako's eyes then widened as her gaze landed on Neji. _'It happened...'_ His forehead was covered. It was then that Minako noticed how strained Hizashi's smile was and how vulnerable Neji looked.

Snapping out of it, she looked away with a scowl.

Hizashi smiled down at them, giving Hinata and Neji a pat on their heads before gently pushing them forward. "I'll leave them in your care."

"Yeah, we'll take care of them!" Naruto promised; with a grin, immediately wrapping his arms around their shoulders.

Minako patted her shorts with her now free hand, wiping away Naruto's sweat. She loved her twin dearly, but boy can he sweat a lot. The quiet Uzumaki then shot a nod towards Hizashi, "We'll have them back at six."

"That's too early!" Naruto complained.

Hizashi chuckled, "I'm afraid it's just the right time Naruto-kun. Their bedtime is at seven."

 _'Ours is at nine!'_ Ami and Naruto thought in shock, sending the cousins pitying looks.

* * *

Neji blinked as Minako Uzumaki stretched back against a tree, releasing a satisfied sigh.

"Aren't you going to go play Minako-san?"

In reply, he got a playful smile, "Aren't _you_ going to play Neji-kun?"

For some reason, the smile just didn't seem to reach her eyes. She looked, dare he say it, sad?

They were both currently at the top of a small hill that overlooked the park they were at. The park which the Uzumaki twins had dubbed their favorite, simply because of the hill which they loved. Neji agreed with their assessment of the hill being the appealing part of the park. It was ideal for an introvert like him to relax on while looking over the ones who decided to go play.

In this case Hinata-sama, Naruto and Ami.

"No, I don't feel up to it."

Neji flinched in surprise as Minako pulled him down to sit between her legs. He tensed as two arms wrapped around him and a chin rested on his shoulder.

( _I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry...god...I should have...I could have...Neji-kun...I'm sorry..._ Minako's grip tightened protectively.)

"M-Minako-san?"

"Neji-kun, what happened to your forehead?"

 _'Ah, Minako-san is observant...'_ Neji absently noted.

Should he tell her or not?

Usually, Neji liked to keep clan matters in the clan. But he wanted _someone_ to know. And Minako-san was comforting. She was kind.

"The Hyuuga clan is divided into two parts. The main house and the branch house." Neji took a shuddering breath as emotions ran through him.

Resentment.

Fear.

Confusion.

"Hinata-sama," he breathed out, casting a jealous filled look to his cousin from where he was. She had a carefree smile on her face as she played with Naruto and Ami. She didn't know what it was like or how it felt like to be trapped the way he was. The way his father was. The way the branch house was. "She's part of the main house."

He felt Minako-san's hands slid down to his hands and interlaced their fingers.

Oh.

His hands were shaking...

He thought Minako-san was the one who was shaking.

He shakily swallowed, forcing himself to continue in an apathetic tone: "The purpose of the branch house is to protect the main members of the branch house are branded with a cursed seal upon the third birthday of the heir to the main house. This seal gives the main house members absolute control over the branch members, because they can destroy the branch members' brain cells with a simple hand seal, or cause them great pain to punish them. This seal also makes sure the secret of the Hyūga's Byakugan is safe, because it seals the Byakugan after the wearer of the seal dies."

"They...branded you..."

It didn't sound like a question, but Neji nodded nonetheless.

"How do you feel about it?" Minako-san continued.

At her question, Neji's eyes watered.

"...it's what it is," Neji forced himself to say, repeating what he's heard other branch members say.

" _How do you feel about it?_ " Minako-san repeated, this time in a more forceful way.

The dam broke.

Tears started streaming down Neji's face as sobs raked through his core.

"I'm scared. I'm afraid of them...I saw Hiashi-sama...I saw him use the seal on my father. I-I don't want to go through that pain. I don't want to die!"

Scared.

Scared.

Scared.

"Those fucking bastards..."

The crude words that came out of Minako-san's mouth was more comforting than anything. The next moment Neji was turned around and hugging, no, _clinging_ to Minako-san's body. She hugged him as tight as he was clinging on to her.

She didn't tell him it was all going to be okay like his father did.

Yet, she managed to comfort him a million times better than his own father did.

* * *

 _ **Chapter End.**_

* * *

 _ **Author's note:** heavy focus on Shisui and Neji in this chapter, huh? When I first started writing this fic, I was hoping to reach the Academy days by chapter seven, but I don't think I'll reach it until like chapter ten. I hope you all don't mind. It's just, as you can see, the kid!characters just keep popping up emotions and I still have to establish some more friendships before the Academy days roll in. Aside from the friendships, I also want to establish something between Naruto and Minako's bond before the Academy kicks in._

 ** _Questions!_**

 ** _1\. In this fanfic, who do you see Naruto ending up with?_**

 ** _2\. What do you think Minako's next move will be?_**


	7. the balance

Naruto was laughing.

Ami was laughing too.

"Shut up," Minako grunted out, annoyed at being their source of amusement.

"I-I-I c-can't!" Naruto hollered, clutching his stomach.

If looks could kill, Minako's glare would have successfully ended the whole world. As it stood, her glare only managed to make Ami's laughter dissolve into more subdued giggles. Small mercies.

Minako blinked as Naruto pointed at her hair, highlighting her singed appearance and how her hair _somehow_ became a funky afro.

"What happened to your hair, sis?" Naruto asked, grin filled with mirth.

Minako defensively crossed her arms, "Fuinjutsu failure," she muttered, annoyed at herself.

She didn't have a natural talent for Fuinjutsu, despite being half-Uzumaki, go figure. She blamed whoever it was that placed her in Minako's body in the first place. She wasn't used to working hard. Which was ironic, considering Naruto, her twin, was a firm believer in hard work. Don't get her wrong, she didn't believe in talent either.

Why?

Because she had never thought about it before.

To her, if someone was good at something, they were good at it. Whether they had worked hard or not was simply irrelevant to their success. Of course her belief came to bite her in the butt. Because now _she_ was supposed to work hard, wasn't she?

"I don't get why you're suddenly interested in becoming a ninja Minako," Ami finally spoke up.

Naruto nodded in agreement and in unison they both tilted their heads to the side.

Like they were puppies.

"I thought you wanted me to become a ninja, Naru," Minako carefully said, wanting to prevent any sibling rivalry Naruto may or may not be feeling. "Besides, it was...Kabuto who told me to try my hand at Fuinjutsu."

She wanted to slap herself for sounding vulnerable when saying that traitor's name.

She hated that it still stung that Kabuto left without saying anything.

She hated how Naruto's eyes softened.

But, she couldn't deny that she was relieved that Naruto would probably see her interest in Fuinjutsu as her trying to hold on to Kabuto. Which it wasn't. She just needed Fuinjutsu as a solution for future events. Like when Gaara releases Shukaku in eight or so years. Or for when she'd convince Naruto to abolish the Hyuga Branch family in the future, which meant that she should be able to remove the Hyuga seal.

Not to mention, Minako was fascinated by Fuinjutsu. It was like calculus. It was familiar, a way for her to hold on to her past life. Yes, calculus was fucking hard, but it's the price she was willing to pay to stay connected to her old world.

Who knows? Fuinjutsu may even be the key to her returning to her old world, if she ever felt like it.

"Mina..."

Who was she kidding?

It's been what, almost two years? Her body was probably in the dirt by now, wasn't it? Her family couldn't afford to keep her in a comatose state if she was in the hospital, so she doubted suddenly waking up in a hospital was going to happen.

"Mina!"

Minako blinked as Naruto grabbed her wrist.

"...what?"

She frowned at Naruto and Ami's concerned looks.

She was _okay_ , damn it.

"Let's go to the park!" Naruto exclaimed with a grin, probably trying to cheer her up. "Sasuke-teme, Hinata-chan and Neji's going to be there too."

Ami shot Naruto a look, "Minako always heads to the library around this time. It's basically her routine. I'm surprised she hasn't read everything in there already."

"Actually," Minako smiled, "I think I can skip one day."

"What about Shisui?" Ami suspiciously asked.

"What about him?"

"Yeah, what about him?" Naruto backed her up.

He still hadn't opened up to Shisui, much to Minako's amusement.

"I don't see what Shisui has to do with me going to the park with my two favorite people in the world."

"But," Ami frowned, "Aren't you two friends?"

"Eh?" Minako stuttered out. "He just likes annoying me."

"But you let him!" Naruto exclaimed, "Which means you're friends?"

Why did that sound like a question?

Choosing not to say anything on the matter, because in the end she didn't know if Shisui had any ulterior motives, she simply deadpanned. "Do you want me to go to the park or not?"

"Of course!"

Minako grimaced at how happy Naruto sounded. Perhaps he was feeling neglected by her constant library visits? No, it couldn't be, could it? After all, she only spent like three hours a day in that library. The rest of her day she always dedicates to Naruto when she didn't have to go to Koharu's.

"Fix your hair first though," Ami jested, causing another round of laughter.

Rolling her eyes, Minako walked to the room she shared with Naruto. She grabbed her backpack which was filled with a book, writing materials, two notebooks and of course, money. Though, maybe she'd need to get a map of the village eventually.

 _'Food for thought,'_ she decided as she grabbed her and Naruto's hairbrush.

She'd brush her hair on the way to the park.

.o0o.o0o.

"Maybe I should start growing my hair out," Minako mused as she and her companions neared the park.

"No way! We're twins, Mina."

"I think it's a good idea."

Minako ignored Ami and Naruto as they started arguing, as if they had a say in what she did or didn't do. Honestly, by now they should realize that Minako wasn't going to bend over other people's opinions. She'd consider them, and ultimately ignore them.

Instead of wasting her time trying to diffuse an argument, she let her gaze wander in search of Neji, Hinata or Sasuke. She was sure where one was, the others were, considering she and her companions were at best twenty minutes late.

Minako didn't even consider the possibility that Neji, Hinata or Sasuke could be late. They were clan kids, for crying out loud. And she wasn't even being biased, considering Neji had offhandedly mentioned it one time when they were watching the others play ninja.

"Hey! Dobe! Minako! Ami! Over here!"

Minako's attention snapped towards the far left corner of the park, where she could faintly make out Sasuke, Hinata and an older woman.

 _'Where's Neji?'_

Usually, she would leisurely walk as if she had all the time in the world, but right now she was worried about Neji. She's been worried about the boy since a month ago, when they had put the blasted mark on his forehead, branding him as if he was a slave.

"Hello," she politely greeted, quickly glancing at Sasuke and the woman before looking at Hinata. "Where's Neji?"

"U-um, he's g-gotten a fever a-and Uncle decided t-that it would be b-best he stays i-inside."

Minako didn't really feel any better. The supposed fever could actually mean that one of the Main House members may have done something to Neji. If that were the case, the Hyuga compound would go down in flames as she smiled in satisfaction.

"I see," Minako reminded herself to smile at Hinata.

Sometimes, she had to try really hard to remind herself that Hinata didn't have any part to play in what had happened to Neji. She would never blame someone for their parents' sins. But, it was still frustrating that Hinata was so oblivious to everything. One day, when Hinata was older, she'd get why Minako always fret over Neji more than Ami or Sasuke.

Today just wasn't that day.

"Minako, hey!"

Minako focused on Sasuke who was smiling at her.

It was sometimes disorientating to remember that Sasuke was and would have continued being a happy child if not for the Uchiha massacre. It only served to motivate her desire to do something about it.

"Sasuke," Minako smiled back. "How's the Shuriken practice going?"

She asked because she recalled how Sasuke had mentioned starting up some training the last time they had hung out, which was a week ago. Naruto and Ami did socialize more than she did after all.

Sasuke's expression turned into a sulk. "I suck at it."

Minako shook her head and patted Sasuke's head. "Same," she sighed, recalling her Fuinjutsu failure.

"Practice makes perfect, kids."

Both Minako and Sasuke turned to look at the woman.

The woman, to put it lightly, was beautiful.

She was also Mikoto Uchiha.

 _'...oh fuck, we weren't supposed to meet for a few more weeks. My plans have been ruined. Just my rotten luck! And I'm not even properly dressed. Heck, I'm not even mentally prepare to socialize with an adult.'_

"I know mom," Sasuke beamed.

Minako was on auto-pilot as she bowed in greeting, "Uchiha-sama, it's a pleasure to meet you. Thank you for waiting for us."

"My, how polite. Uchiha-sama is my husband though, so you can simply refer to me as Mikoto-san. I'll have to thank you for taking care of my son, Minako was it?"

Minako nodded, "Minako Uzumaki," she confirmed.

She didn't see any visible reaction on Mikoto's face.

Good.

"Wait...what are you doing here Minako?"

"That's rude, Sasuke."

"H-he d-didn't mean it l-like that, U-Uchiha-san," Hinata meekly piped up.

Minako allowed herself a sheepish smile. "I ditched Shi-chan today."

"He's gonna sulk about it all week," Sasuke grinned in amusement.

"Hinata-chan! Teme! Pretty lady!"

The trio turned to look at Naruto and Ami who had finally caught up.

They watched in various degrees of amusement as Ami flicked Naruto's ears and loudly chided him on manners and how Naruto's lack of manners were the reason Minako should just grow her hair out so no one mistakes the girl for Naruto.

Once they were done, Ami forced Naruto in a polite bow.

"Hello, it's pleased to make your acquaintance, Uchiha-san."

Minako smiled in approval.

She knew she was friends with Ami for a reason.

"U-um, guys?"

Everyone looked at the shy Hyuga heiress, who Minako suspected was more shy that usual due to Mikoto Uchiha's presence. She couldn't really blame the poor girl. Even she felt a bit intimidated by the woman for some reason.

"N-Neji-nii-san i-isn't here..."

"So?" Ami bluntly asked.

"M-Minako-san is.."

Realization dawned Sasuke. "We're five."

"Nah," Minako quickly said, sounding casual. "I'll just sit this game out."

Naruto frowned in concern.

"Hmm," Mikoto thoughtfully hummed, interjecting into the conversation. "Minako-chan can help me with some groceries and keep me company while you all play."

Naruto brightened at the idea, "Really Uchiha-san?"

Mikoto nodded with an amused smile. "Really, Naruto-kun."

"You're way nicer than Te... _Sasuke_ ," Naruto hastily corrected himself at Ami's scowl.

The scowl immediately morphed into a nice smile. "We'll leave our Minako in your care then, Uchiha-san."

.o0o.o0o.

Admittedly speaking, Minako was _scared_ of Mikoto.

Not because the woman seemed scary or anything, goodness no, the woman was in fact very affable.

She was scared of slipping up. Of saying something she shouldn't know. She wasn't afraid of slipping up near people like Shisui or Koharu, simply because their conversations never slipped into uncharted territories.

With Mikoto Uchiha, things were very different.

They had no established bond. No established standard conversation.

When there weren't any standard conversation, which leads to awkward silences, Minako rambled. She'd like to pretend it was because she was now half-Uzumaki, but honestly she's always been that way.

"In conclusion," Minako nervously gulped, "The consumers, which are us, tend to think that we pay less because of the odd numbered price."

"That is very insightful of you, Minako-chan," Mikoto complimented. "I''ll make sure to buy fruits at Ichiya's instead of Azuchi's next time. I'll have to tell the others about this, you're a real lifesaver."

Minako merely nodded at the compliment before racking her mind for any other conversation ideas. She majored in Economics and minored in journalism for crying out loud!

Why, oh why, didn't she major in something else instead?

Well, at least she didn't major in technology-based studies, otherwise she really would have been more screwed in the Naruto world.

Oh, maybe she could talk about the lack of technology advancement?

"I don't mind that you and Naruto-kun are friends with Sasuke."

Minako's violet-colored eyes snapped towards Mikoto, who was giving her a soft look. "E-excuse me?"

"Shisui told us you like think too much, Minako-chan."

"Shisui..?"

"He talks about you. Too much, sometimes. You've really caught his fancy."

Minako's eyes widened.

She hadn't expected Shisui to go around talking about her at all. Somehow, she had went about her friendship with Shisui the same way she had with Kabuto. As if it was some sort of affair, some sort of secret that was theirs and no one else's.

But...Shisui was different than Kabuto, wasn't he?

She should really stop comparing them.

Suddenly, someone was breathing down her neck.

"I think Mikoto-san's even gotten tired of hearing how much I like your eyes, Mi-chan."

Minako yelped in surprise, earning a soft chuckle and an energetic laugh.

She turned around and glared at Shisui, "Don't sneak up on me!"

"I was here the whole time."

"The whole time..?" Minako felt a blush creeping up her cheeks.

That meant he had listened to her nonsensical ramblings.

"Around the time you started ranting about an imaginary line between cost and demand," Shisui teased.

"I knew you were a stalker."

"You wound me Mi-chan."

"Yeah, well, truth hurts Shi-chan."

"You were the one who ditched me, Mi-chan."

The casually remarked accusation made Minako pause.

She finally noticed how winded Shisui looked.

"You were looking me?"

It couldn't be.

He probably just finished training.

"Of course, I thought something had happened to you, miss I-always-follow-routines."

Minako had the decency to look embarrassed, "S-sorry."

Shisui simply sighed. "Just warn a guy next time. Jeez, you really know how to make people panic, Mi-chan."

"It makes us even."

"Eh? How does that work?"

"You listened to my rambling, right? I said everything has a balance somewhere. I make you panic and you confuse me. So we're even."

"That isn't going to cut it, Mi-chan," Shisui evilly smirked.

"N-name your price then."

"You."

"My..." Mikoto trailed off, looking at the duo in interest.

"M-me?"

"Yeah. You're coming over for lunch at my place next week."

Minako rolled her eyes, "I can cook my own meals. Not a charity case."

She ignored the look Mikoto and Shisui shared.

"You're not," Shisui assured. "Everything has a balance, right? You've brought me breakfast a lot, so I'm inviting you to lunch to balance it out."

"No ulterior motives?"

"Aside from your sarcastic remarks?"

"So, I just have to suffer from your stupidity then."

Shisui grinned and slung an arm over Minako's shoulders, which was awkward considering her head barely reached his waist. She was like what, five? And he was at least ten.

"On to shopping with Mikoto-san!"

Minako didn't really know what to say.

Really.

Why was Shisui being so open with her in public? Didn't he notice the looks people were giving them? The sounds of whispering?

 _'Maybe he just doesn't care...'_

The thought made her smile.

"Perhaps we get some flowers for your friend Neji," Mikoto mused, easily steering them away from where a lot of people were.

She decided then and there that she liked Mikoto.

 ** _.o0o.o0o._**

 ** _Chapter End._**

 ** _.o0o.o0o._**

 ** _Author's note:_** _I wanted this chapter to be longer, but...it just doesn't feel right for it to keep going. Anyway! I've started publishing this story on Wattpad as well, please support it there as well. (same username). Also, one more (long) chapter left before the Academy kicks in~!_

 ** _Questions:_**

 ** _1\. School-wise, which major do you think would be more useful to you if you ever get reincarnated into the Naruverse?_**

 ** _2\. You can choose any Kage to train under (from whichever village), who would you choose and why?_**


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